


Do Not Engage

by frozenCinders



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Warriors, M/M, more characters involved and mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 10:04:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5159663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frozenCinders/pseuds/frozenCinders
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was said to be one man with the strength of a thousand. He'd been a part of a small army and had been the sole purpose for every victory it had, before he had wisened up to that fact and overthrown his leader. As he lacked charisma, the few men he had were terrified of him. Unable to bring their arms to stop shaking, they became less and less proficient with the weapons they were previously able to wield, and were slain one by one. Cowards, he would call them.</p><p>Every time that man was on the battlefield, the more intelligent forces gave him the widest berth possible.</p><p>"Do not, under any circumstance, engage Kyoutani."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do Not Engage

He was said to be one man with the strength of a thousand. He'd been a part of a small army and had been the sole purpose for every victory it had, before he had wisened up to that fact and overthrown his leader. As he lacked charisma, the few men he had were terrified of him. Unable to bring their arms to stop shaking, they became less and less proficient with the weapons they were previously able to wield, and were slain one by one. Cowards, he would call them.

Every time that man was on the battlefield, the more intelligent forces gave him the widest berth possible.

"Do not, under any circumstance, engage Kyoutani," everyone around the country would be told. Anyone unlucky enough to have accidentally disobeyed said order would be slaughtered with ease. The phrase wasn't unfamiliar to Yahaba due to Kyoutani's infamy, but hearing Lord Oikawa say it to his troops with such a serious tone of voice brought a wave of dread over him. Yahaba discreetly looked around to see the reactions of some of his allies. As expected, they all looked understandably solemn. Not even the more enthusiastic members of their army would say a word.

When the time came to ride off and Iwaizumi's shoulders dropped in relief at the report of a messenger, Yahaba hoped with all his heart that the message had been good news about Kyoutani. As Iwaizumi announced that the one man army appeared to be riding off away from the two armies that were about to fued, audible sighs of relief were heard from all over. Watari made a joke that they must have even been able to hear the enemy's sighs and Yahaba tried not to chuckle, he really did.

Seijou rode out to the battlefield with their spirits much higher than before, not even bothering to consider that Karasuno was equally or perhaps even more elated. The fact that the most dangerous warrior of the era was on course to be out of their way was more of a morale booster than Yahaba could have hoped. He wondered if armies sometimes lied about a similar situation to manipulate the morale of their troops. Thinking about it, he decided he wouldn't even be annoyed if that were in fact the case in his current situation, as that would just reduce the danger even more.

Speaking of danger, as Yahaba was losing himself to his thoughts, he'd almost been knocked off his horse by a few troops attempting to swing at him as he rode by. Paying full attention now, Yahaba leaned forward and held on tightly to the reins in his hands. His first objective was to assist his fellow officers in capturing the three garrisons closest to Seijou's base.

He'd only been able to assist with two, as one of them had already been captured by Iwaizumi by the time Yahaba had arrived to the second garrison. He gave a small smile, thankful that his allies were making progress. As he moved to leave, another messenger arrived, looking rather winded. As the first messenger had begun to inquire where the second's horse was, the latter suddenly looked ill.

"He... he changed course," the poor thing attempted to speak with no breath, "Kyoutani is back on the battlefield."

Yahaba pursed his lips together, a shaky breath coming out as soon as he parted them. As the messenger sat down and gave an even more earnest attempt to catch his breath, he continued.

"One of Karasuno's officers is provoking him, leading him around. I think it's safe to say Sawamura's plan is to have this officer lure Kyoutani to our forces."

"If that isn't the worst news I've ever heard..." Yahaba scowled, wishing the wind didn't suddenly seem so chilly. "Do you know what route they're taking?"

"I don't think it's any particular route. All we know is that they're headed towards us."

Yahaba concentrated to cease the gentle shivering his body had succumbed to. He paid attention to the wind, noting it appeared to be coming from behind him. Looking ahead, he realized Karasuno's forces were directly past the gate in front of him. Remembering the map he'd been studying before the battle started, he surmised that if he hurried to the next garrison, he could capture it and allow news to spread that he was guarding it completely alone. Once Karasuno's forces drew near, he would flee and start a fire, locking the lured soldiers in to die. At the sudden loss, Karasuno's morale would lower and perhaps the officer luring Kyoutani around would give up in favor of backing up his allies.

Thankfully, Yahaba was a quick thinker and the plan took less than a minute to concoct. He politely asked the less exhausted messenger to deliver news of his plan to Lord Oikawa. The fact that he knew he didn't need approval before putting his plan into motion was another thing to be thankful for, he mused.

Yahaba gathered a few supplies and hopped back on his horse, taking a deep breath before signalling for the front gates of the garrison to be opened and riding through. Arriving at the garrison, he found it more guarded than he'd hoped, but didn't recognize any officers there as being particularly famous or standing out. Oikawa hadn't been the only one the messenger gave the news to, as a few troops approached from behind Yahaba and declared that they'd arrived to assist his plan.

After capturing the garrison and unfortunately sustaining a scrape on his arm, Yahaba ordered the troops to fan out and audibly pretend to be concerned over the fact that he was guarding the garrison all on his own. Yahaba heard laughter in the distance and peeked past the garrison's open gates to find a man with a shaved head- who he recognized as Tanaka, an officer he'd had to deal with in previous battles- being chased around by someone having an identical appearance to what he'd heard Kyoutani looked like. The fierce scowl present on the man's face and his apparent lack of allies made Yahaba's stomach drop, but he merely clenched his fists and returned to his preparations, hoping that perhaps the man was just a look-alike, or that he at least wouldn't be lured near Yahaba.

Nobody had approached him yet by the time Yahaba and a select few hidden troops were done preparing for the fire attack. He was thankful for a moment to breathe, but also hoped he hadn't rushed the preparations. If anything went wrong, it would be a blow to Seijou's morale rather than Karasuno's. He allowed himself to think, but made sure not to lose focus.

Most people might think upon discovering the news Yahaba had ordered be spread that they needn't send more than a few troops to take out one officer. However, Yahaba knew Karasuno better than that. Sawamura would be wary of a trap and would send in someone competent at the very least, most likely accompanied by backup. Ambushes were quite common, after all. It was always difficult to suspect a fire attack, however. With the wind blowing towards Karasuno's forces, the smoke would be over them rather than Seijou, and if the fire were to spread, it would likely be that way as well. If the wind had been blowing towards Seijou instead, Yahaba wouldn't even have considered a fire attack.

As he suspected, an officer he didn't recognize but who at least appeared powerful began to approach the garrison, with a somewhat sizable amount of troops lagging behind him. It was a shame that it wasn't Karasuno's new troublesome shorty that was lured in, but Yahaba would take what he could get. He took quite a few steps back as the man approached, making his movements as subtle as possible. As the unfamiliar soldier reached the garrison, he dismounted his horse and the beast galloped past Yahaba and out of the way.

"Are you certain it's wise to guard a garrison all by your lonesome?" the soldier asked, not bothering to point his sword at Yahaba quite yet. Yahaba didn't reach for his bow, either.

"And are you sure it's wise to approach said garrison without any backup? There must be a reason I'm here alone, after all." The man gave a gruff chuckle.

"Who said I don't have any backup?" he replied as the troops that had been lagging behind him entered the garrison with him.

Yahaba took another slow step back, already having reached the end of the garrison from the steps he'd taken earlier, before giving a subtle signal behind his back that the troops hiding on the edge of the garrison could see. The gates began to close and Yahaba sprinted out before he was trapped, thankfully being the only one managing to escape.

It didn't take long for the garrison to be engulfed in flames, the wooden structure having been shot by many a flaming arrow. Before he could relish in the success of his plan, Yahaba was nearly trampled by a horse that sped by, and then again by a second. He then heard exactly what he'd been hoping for.

"Woah, woah, wait! Is that- are those our troops in there?" Tanaka yelled, slowing down a bit. He ducked as Kyoutani's spear nearly beheaded him. "Shit. Alright, change of plans, big guy."

Tanaka sped up once more, taking off towards Karasuno's forces. Yahaba expected Kyoutani to follow him immediately, but the warrior turned slightly and looked straight at him. Yahaba never expected to be able to hold such a menace's gaze, but he couldn't find it in himself to look away. Yahaba's breath caught in his throat as he swore he could feel death's skeletal hand lower itself over his face.

"Do not engage Kyoutani," was the quote that every warrior in the land must have known by this point. But would Yahaba really have a choice? He forced himself to breathe as his grip on the bow he'd been holding since exiting the garrison tightened. As if some higher being decided to smile upon Yahaba, Kyoutani moved his gaze back to the battlefield and rode off. Yahaba figured he must have been contemplating continuing to chase after the soldier that he had been following or taking his frustration out on others. Yahaba was then thankful that he was only surrounded by an incredibly small amount of troops.

His knees nearly gave out as he wiped the cold sweat from his brow, no longer being crushed by Kyoutani's frightening aura. Unfortunately for Yahaba, he suddenly came upon a reasonable plan. Kyoutani was clearly angered by Tanaka, who he must have been chasing for an hour by that point, and the one man army, being just that, didn't seem to have any way of catching the officer. Karasuno had tried and apparently failed to use Kyoutani to their advantage. Yahaba couldn't help but wonder how Seijou would fare doing the same.

Reluctantly allowing those thoughts to remain in his head, Yahaba whistled for his horse. He waffled for a moment, trying to decide whether he should ride back towards his Lord or Iwaizumi or practically anyone before figuring he would lose Kyoutani if he wasted any time. Yahaba sped after Kyoutani as fast as he could, taking a few attempts to find his voice. What he was about to do might have been the worst decision of his life, he realized, but that wasn't about to stop him.

"Kyoutani, wait!" he yelled, hoping the warrior could hear him. Kyoutani looked over his shoulder, appearing surprised that someone would call out to him. For better or worse, he actually listened and slowed down so that Yahaba could catch up. The one man army stared at him, as if silently demanding to know what he wanted. Yahaba forced himself to make eye contact.

"You don't have any troops to help you hunt that soldier down. I can get my allies to box him in for you," Yahaba offered, hoping to god that Kyoutani didn't suspect any sort of trap, as for once, Yahaba had absolutely none in mind. If there was even a 1% chance that a trap he would have attempted to spring on Kyoutani would fail, he would die from stress before even getting the chance to try it.

"Hah? Why would you want to help me?" A fair question, Yahaba supposed.

"We're on opposite sides, after all. That soldier belongs to Karasuno, and I to Seijou. It would be a win for both of us and you can be on your way after you've taken care of him." Yahaba was quite impressed with himself for being able to speak without stuttering, if he was being completely honest.

"Trying to get rid of me?" Yahaba felt the color leave his face at the not so incorrect accusation. "What the fuck ever. That guy's pissing me off. Corner him or whatever and I'll kill him."

"Alright. Just please keep in mind that it might take a little while," Yahaba informed, feeling a strange mix of relief, pride, and a crushing pressure to succeed as he rode off towards Iwaizumi to inform the second in command of his plan. He glanced past his shoulder to find Kyoutani right where he left him, already looking bored. He almost wished the warrior had decided to follow him, since he knew waiting could seem to take forever if you have nothing to do during.

Iwaizumi had been about to ride off after giving orders to a few troops. Yahaba only heard their yells of understanding as he approached. The first thing Iwaizumi did upon being informed of Yahaba's plan was punch him with nearly enough force to knock him to the ground.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!" Iwaizumi more said than asked. "You're lucky Karasuno already did a great job of pissing him off so much that his attention is focused on them or he probably would have killed you without a thought."

Yahaba cringed at the scolding he was receiving but kept his back straight.

"However..." Iwaizumi let up, "since you've already somehow gotten him to agree, and the situation is the way it is, I'll let you give this a try. Just know that if anything goes wrong, it's on your head."

"Thank you, sir!" Yahaba gave a bow before riding off to gather some of the troops that were particularly loyal to him. Even as trusted of a strategist he was, Yahaba doubted that just anyone would follow him in attempting to interact with Kyoutani in any way.

After thoroughly explaining that he did not intend for anyone to fight or even get too close to Kyoutani, Yahaba was able to gather a surprisingly good amount of troops for boxing Tanaka in. He asked around a bit to find out where the officer was exactly before organizing a pincer attack and riding back to let Kyoutani know that everyone was ready. A bit shocked to find him still just sitting exactly where Yahaba had left him, he cringed a bit as Kyoutani gave him what might have been an unintentional glare.

"We're ready to corner Tanaka-"

"Who?" Kyoutani interrupted. Yahaba blinked, finding it strange for some reason that he wasn't aware of who it was exactly that he'd been chasing, but then realizing that it was Kyoutani after all, and that he probably didn't care who was who. Another reason to be concerned.

"That's who you were chasing. We've located his position on the battlefield and we're moving to execute a pincer attack. He's practically up against a wall, so I'm having troops approach him from the sides and you can approach directly from the front," Yahaba explained, never more conscious of his words. Kyoutani didn't seem the type to enjoy being ordered around or feeling used, so he tried his best to make it seem like he was only interested in helping the one man army.

"Fine, whatever. Which way?"

Feeling there was no need for any further words, Yahaba gestured for Kyoutani to follow him and took off in the direction of Tanaka. His position wasn't set in stone and they would have to account for any moving around he did, but hopefully the troops would get the hang of it and not let him move too far from the side of the mountain.

'The... mountain,' Yahaba thought, realization suddenly dawning on him. Thinking back to the map he was shown, Yahaba remembered that there was an escape route through a narrow mountain path nearly adjacent to one of the three garrisons that Seijou had first captured. The route he was currently taking was a bit to the left of it, but most likely not far enough to prevent Tanaka from riding past the troops on that side and leaving the battlefield, while hardly having to knock any soldiers' heads off on his way. He knew Tanaka to be an enthusiastic fighter and would hope he would make the stupid decision and fight off the troops that surrounded him, but Yahaba couldn't help but consider that Sawamura had probably taught him better than that.

"What the fuck is up with you? Look like you're gonna throw up," Kyoutani commented, and Yahaba was torn between feeling as if he were dreaming or as if he really was about to be sick. It was strange, after all, for possibly the most dangerous man in the country to just strike up conversation beside you.

"Well, I don't think you'd like to hear it," Yahaba paused, wondering if he could get away with not continuing, but seeing the look of expectancy on Kyoutani's face, realized he couldn't. "There's an escape route near Tanaka's position and there's a good chance he might take it. I mean, he's pissed someone like you off, so it makes sense that he'd take the first opportunity to leave. It's not like him, but any commander in their right mind would give an order like that, so..."

"So this plan of yours might not even work?" he growled, making Yahaba certain that the glare he received this time was completely intentional.

"That's how most plans are, unfortunately. I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner, I should have seen if I could have come up with a plan to drive him away from the escape point somehow before boxing hi-"

Yahaba flinched hard as he accidentally bit his tongue. He heard Kyoutani snort beside him but was in too much pain to bother looking. Fearing the pain of falling off of his horse as well, he forced his eyes open in order to keep them on the road. He was sure Kyoutani would understand if he didn't speak too much for the rest of the ride.

As Yahaba feared, when the two arrived, Tanaka was already leaving through the escape route. The officer, who had turned over his shoulder to give one last taunt, nearly slammed into a wall had his horse been a mindless creature that had no sense of avoiding such things. Kyoutani gave a loud, sharp exhalation as his own horse took a few more steps forward before stopping.

"Are you going after him?" Yahaba chanced, his tongue still stinging and making him wince a bit. Finally having his hands free from the reins as his horse had stopped, he raised a hand up to his mouth, a useless gesture that somehow provided a small amount of comfort.

"I'm fucking sick of chasing that idiot around," Kyoutani admitted, glaring at the escape route. The troops that were around quickly made room for him to pass, not having heard him. Deciding to really test his luck, Yahaba slowly moved his hand back down to the reins.

"Would you perhaps like to take your aggression out on his allies?" he offered, hearing a scoff almost immediately.

"Just don't go expecting me to apologize if I _accidentally_ knock some of your guys around, too," Kyoutani warned, taking on an especially fake tone. He probably expected Yahaba to get angry at that, but he just nodded, his tongue begging him not to speak much more.

"Our uniforms, and banner for that matter, are light teal," he informed, ignoring the muscle's pleas, "just try to go for orange instead."

"Consider me colorblind," Kyoutani remarked, riding off without another word. Yahaba pursed his lips together, taking a deep breath before riding off to inform Oikawa of the news, since he could likely afford to ride all the way back to him rather than taking the shortcut of just reaching his second in command instead.

"You... wait, wait, let me just make sure we're on the same page here," Oikawa said upon being told the summary of what had happened. "You not only approached and spoke to Kyoutani, but actually got him to... cooperate with you?"

"Yes. He, uh, didn't point his weapon at me once, in fact. I was surprised," Yahaba half-joked, but really he should have been. Oikawa's mouth remained agape as he looked to Kunimi, who simply shrugged, not having been there.

"So he's fighting for us now? Am I dreaming?" Oikawa asked, looking around as if to find something even more unrealistic to tip him off to the possibility of the situation being nothing more than his mind's conjuring.

"Well, not for us, particularly. I let him know which side was which by telling him to avoid teal and go for orange and he just said to consider him colorblind."

"Ha! He really is a mad dog, then," Oikawa laughed, earning a few confused looks. "You have heard, right? His given name is Kentaro. Kyoutani, Kentaro. Kyouken!"

"Is that what he's being called now?" Kunimi asked, seeming almost hesitant to chime in.

"From now on, yes. It's the perfect name for him, isn't it?" Yahaba and Kunimi both simply nodded, humoring their eccentric lord.

"I'll go keep an eye on him and try to make sure he doesn't strike down too many of our own men," Yahaba said, giving a bow as he announced his exit.

"Shigeru," Oikawa called, suddenly appearing much more serious, as he was prone to do. "This goes without saying, but be careful. Everyone knows the worst thing you can let a mad dog do is bite you."

'He somehow turned that weird nickname into an actual metaphor?' Yahaba thought, giving a nod before continuing on his way out.

For the next few hours, Yahaba lingered around Kyoutani, ensuring the troops around him knew to let him have the enemies for himself. He'd occasionally make himself useful when he noticed a nearby soldier struggling, but would otherwise devote himself to keeping watch over the newly dubbed mad dog. Kyoutani didn't fail to notice his hovering, glaring over at Yahaba occasionally but not doing much of anything threatening about it.

Surprisingly enough, a few officers of Karasuno had managed to encounter Kyoutani and get away with their lives. Nishinoya had blocked a few blows on his way by and smiled as he threw a javelin at him, grazing Kyoutani's side but barely drawing blood. Kyoutani had been about to give chase before the new shorty of Karasuno whose name Yahaba hadn't learned yet distracted him. It was difficult not to notice him after all, with that bright orange hair and eagerness that came with an appropriately loud voice. Yahaba felt bad for the boy, assuming he'd immediately be ripped to shreds.

Despite his small stature, the shorty was quite surprisingly holding his own. Of course, holding your own against Kyoutani meant _almost_ scratching him and not dying after a few measly minutes.

"Hinata! Are you an idiot?! We're retreating already!" This one, Yahaba recognized as Kageyama. His Lord Oikawa seemed to have something against him and would almost visibly seethe with anger whenever his name came up.

"I'm in the middle of something!" Hinata yelled back, barely blocking a blow from Kyoutani. The boy's spear looked as if it were about to snap in half, and did in fact start to do just that, splinters forming and starting to break off the handle, before Kageyama rode straight over to him and whacked him over the head with the blunt side of his sword.

"Of all fucking people to pick a fight with! Don't engage, remember?! Get on, idiot," Kageyama ordered, pulling Hinata by his collar and dragging him along a few meters away from Kyoutani. Hinata looked back before reluctantly hopping onto the horse with Kageyama.

Silence then ensued between the two left behind, with Yahaba still sitting atop his steed and Kyoutani panting softly beside him. It didn't take long for him to catch his breath, looking up at Yahaba as if to say, "What now?"

"Not to be nosy, but..."

"Spit it out," Kyoutani said, moving his gaze from Yahaba as his stuck his spear in the ground and leaned on it slightly, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"What's your plan?" Yahaba asked, moving forward on the saddle as much as he could in case Kyoutani wanted to hop on. The mad dog only gave him a somewhat neutral seeming scowl as he took a deep breath before whistling for his own horse.

"You know," Yahaba continued, moving back to where he was comfortable, "we end up fighting Karasuno pretty often. We actually didn't used to have much of anything in particular against them, but our Lord Oikawa can't stand that black haired man you just saw. Ever since he was recruited into Karasuno-"

"Did I fucking ask? What's your point?" Kyoutani rudely interrupted. Yahaba couldn't help but be startled, but he admitted that it absolutely wasn't a surprising event.

"The point is that if you stick with us, you'll have many more chances to fight Karasuno. If you want, that is," Yahaba finished somewhat awkwardly. He suddenly hoped that Kyoutani was tired enough to not finally point his weapon at Yahaba for the first time just for trying to recruit such an independent force. He almost seemed contemplative, in fact, before annoyance took over his features.

"Did that fucking horse die or something? What's taking so long?"

"We can also set you up with another horse," Yahaba enticed, tempted to give a wink but realizing that winking at Kyoutani would probably be by far the strangest thing he'd ever done. He did it anyway for the hell of it and so he could say he did it, but he was sure Kyoutani didn't even notice.

"Whatever, move over." Yahaba listened, moving up once more as Kyoutani got behind him. A particularly gruff sigh and the arms suddenly wrapping around him made Yahaba freeze up, barely able to swallow the lump that had immediately formed in his throat. The hands that were now in front of him made a vague attempt at grabbing the reins before giving some type of confused gesture and resting against his thighs.

"Fuck am I supposed to grab onto?" he asked, voice somehow sounding different when it was practically right up against Yahaba's ear. He mentally kicked himself, trying his very best to snap out of the strange daze he'd been put in.

"M-me. I mean, normally when two people share a horse, you're supposed to, uh..." Yahaba couldn't find it in himself to finish his sentence, settling for giving a huff as he picked up Kyoutani's hands and guided his arms around him. He waited for Kyoutani to object, and when he didn't, simply gave his horse the signal to start galloping back towards Seijou's base. Yahaba tried his hardest not to focus on how Kyoutani's grip on him tightened slightly.

Upon reaching the base, the two agreed to dismount before entering. Yahaba gently guided his horse beside him before handing the creature off to a caretaker and Kyoutani trailed after him, earning many gasps and shocked looks on their way to Oikawa. The Lord in question tensed up as he saw Kyoutani and his shoulders rose and fell as if he were waffling over whether or not to throw his arms in the air.

"Well?" Yahaba asked, moving aside for Kyoutani to take his place.

"Well what? It was your fucking idea," Kyoutani growled, seemingly uninterested in speaking to anyone else.

"Well... it seems Kyoutani here is interested in joining Seijou."

"I'm interested in fighting those guys, I don't give a shit who's behind me," Kyoutani clarified, quickly getting over his strange form of shyness. Oikawa and Iwaizumi both gaped, looking between each other. They attempted to talk at the same time, both clearing their throats and silently agreeing to take turns. Not a good first impression on such an important new recruit, Yahaba lamented.

"We'd be honored to have you," Oikawa said, standing up and extending his hand for Kyoutani to shake. He glanced down at it and then continued staring at Oikawa, not attempting for a second to return the gesture. The Lord then lowered his hand and rested it on the small table in front of him, somehow managing not to make it look too awkward.

"Will you actually be wearing the uniform, or would you prefer not to?" Iwaizumi asked, clearly attempting to let Kyoutani know that he still had his freedom. Whether Oikawa would agree was another thing and Yahaba knew his Lord would most likely make every attempt to control Kyoutani as much as possible. It wasn't good to let a mad dog run rampant, after all.

"Whatever," Kyoutani mumbled, and Yahaba dared to think that perhaps he actually did want to be a part of the army. Another part of him considered that it was absolutely possible that Kyoutani just liked the color teal.

Iwaizumi gestured for someone nearby to get up and accompanied him and Kyoutani out of the tent. Almost immediately as the three were out of sight, Oikawa placed a hand on Yahaba's shoulder none too gently.

"This is incredible, Shigeru! Do you realize what you've done?! I mean, you went against my orders to do it and I'm admittedly a little bitter about it, but wow!" Yahaba couldn't help but laugh at his Lord's way with words. "You know what? Let's throw a feast. Karasuno hardly lost any men, but they still retreated and left their territory to us, so it counts as a victory! Plus, maybe it'll be a good way to start to integrate our new mad dog into the army."

As Oikawa walked past him and left Yahaba on his own in the tent, the surreality of the situation really hit him. Had all that really just happened? He understood Oikawa's earlier suspicion of the day just being a dream completely, even going so far as to move to pinch himself before realizing that his arm had been already cut and his tongue bitten. A pinch was but a tickle in comparison.

More importantly, Yahaba's mind brought him back to when Kyoutani had been behind him on the horse. He placed a hand on the back of his neck, where Kyoutani's breath had ghosted more than once. Wondering if he had a problem, Yahaba shook his head and made his way out of the tent. Looking around to see everyone in good spirits, aside from Kyoutani, who was currently scowling at Iwaizumi off to the side, Yahaba couldn't help but feel elated as well. He'd played an important part in not only practically removing a terrifying threat, but adding it to their own forces. He only hoped Kyoutani would grow to feel loyal to Seijou and wouldn't strike down his own allies or quit as soon as Tanaka was out of the picture.

Well, he supposed another thing he hoped was that there were no extra horses available for Kyoutani and that he'd have to ride with Yahaba again.

**Author's Note:**

> the "do not engage kyoutani" quote is absolutely inspired by the "do not pursue lu bu" quote from dynasty warriors, in case anyone wasn't sure


End file.
